Plan will force sites to use credit-card based age verification to verify ages.

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The wobbly, squabbling, minority Tory government—propped up by Northern Ireland's DUP—has laid before MPs its first commencement order for the recently passed Digital Economy Act, in which it confirmed that an age checker system for access to porn sites will be brought in next spring.

Further Reading

"We have taken steps to implement the new age verification requirement for online pornography as part of our continuing work to make the Internet safer," said digital minister Matt Hancock. "The new scheme is complex and will not be fully in place until April 2018, but today we are bringing into force powers to designate the regulator and powers to allow guidance to be issued."

When quizzed by Ars, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) declined to reveal more technical details about the system, opting instead to give us some notes it had already spoon fed to the Mail On Sunday.

Under the yet-to-be-implemented measures, free and fee-based porn operators—many of which are based abroad—will be required to insert age checkers on their sites in the UK, forcing users to dish up their credit card details to prove that they are 18 or over before being granted access to smut.

Further Reading

Despite the fact that new powers will be difficult to implement effectively—given that so many sites are overseas which can be accessed by porn fans using, say, VPN workarounds—Hancock is convinced that "the UK will have the most robust Internet child protection measures of any country in the world."

But privacy campaigners have repeatedly expressed concerns about what they say is the censorship of perfectly legal material that is served up online. While others are worried about the implications of an age checker mechanism that could build up a picture of Brits' porn habits across the country.

"Age verification could lead to porn companies building databases of the UK's porn habits, which could be vulnerable to Ashley Madison style hacks," argued Open Rights Group director Jim Killock.

Further Reading

"The government has repeatedly refused to ensure that there is a legal duty for age verification providers to protect the privacy of Web users," he said, adding: "There is also nothing to ensure a free and fair market for age verification."

Ars understands that the BBFC will begin its work in the autumn, and it will be up to the regulator to determine what age verification systems—such as credit card details or a link to the electoral roll—should be used by porn operators to ensure they comply with the new measures.

So how are people supposed to tell the difference between an age checker that just checks ages and the classic porn age checker that has a "free trial" with massive charges after the trial? I can bet that they will look very similar.

Another policy created by MPs with no actual idea of how technology works, and how easy it is to subvert.

When I was a teenager looking at this stuff, I quickly learned that actual porn sites weren't the place to get stuff because of exactly what the .gov is proposing right now.Porn will simply move to (or already exists on) another channel that is unable to be regulated and life will carry on regardless.

There has to be a less intrusive way to Age-Verify users of these sites. Better yet, why not put the responsibility on the parents, not the state, to manage your child's internet browsing habits.

I think you're missing the point. The point isn't to protect children - that's clearly not going to work for a number of reasons already mentioned (plus how difficult is it to get a hold of your parents card for 30 seconds?).

The point is to make it more difficult and risky to use something they have a moral aversion to. Any form of sexual content has for a long time been a no go area for many things (but violence is fine!). I suspect the whole "We must protect children form porn" thing will do down much like the "We must protect children from violent games" thing. Lots of nonsense then one day some scientist might look into it and will go "Actually, there is nothing to see here, move along".

Plan will force sites to use credit-card based age verification to verify ages.

I assume you can buy prepaid cards in the UK so no this doesn't stop anyone or just a bunch of kids taking their parents cards for use.

You can usually distinguish between different types of card (credit, debit, prepaid) by the BIN range that the card number falls within. Other services that rely on credit cards to verify identity use that method.

2 ) They've had credit card-based "Age Verification Systems" for years and they don't work. It's a great way to have your data stolen (at worst) or to be "enrolled" in subscriptions without your authorisation (at best).

Plan will force sites to use credit-card based age verification to verify ages.

I assume you can buy prepaid cards in the UK so no this doesn't stop anyone or just a bunch of kids taking their parents cards for use.

Oh God, you're right. This is gonna start a cottage industry of charlatans duping kids into giving them their mom and dad's CC information. And, of course, these will be people who will then sell that CC info.

This is just how unpopular the Tory agenda is following their electoral drubbing. They had to cut every one of their major agenda items out of the Queen's speech.

This is literally all they got left, beyond hoping they don't get their ass kicked by the EU Brexit negotiators.

Labour however are just as happy for this kind of stuff (and internet police stuff in general) to go through as the Tories. If there is one unfortunate thing about the make up of the British parties at the moment both of them are much more internet censorship and big-brother happy than they should really be.

So the badly thought out morality police plan will probably be the only legislation for the next 5 years that will coast through parliament without much opposition.

exactly how is porn unsafe? Does it reach through the screen and punch you in the face?

May saw herself nude in the mirror and was so horrified at what she saw she felt it was best to protect the children from every witnessing anything of the sort. Penises and vaginas are disgusting and dangerous, and must be kept hidden forever, didn't you know?